Bai Shi casually dealt with the puppet soldiers who didn’t know what was good for them.
Now, these puppet soldiers were smashed to bits, no longer possessing the ability to reassemble themselves.
Bai Shi turned to look at Erlisa and the silver knights behind him.
He instructed them:
"From now on, we still need to be a little more careful."
"If the Academy of Raya Lucaria makes another forbidden, offensive move, then it will be our turn to take the initiative."
Erlisa nodded.
Since Bai Shi had already made his final declaration, it had to be carried out as such.
If the academy continued to encroach upon them and they didn't respond, it would be a huge loss of face for Bai Shi.
Besides, their Stormveil had no fear of the Academy of Raya Lucaria.Stormveil's current strength was absolutely dominant compared to the academy.
The only reason it was somewhat troublesome was because the academy had sealed itself off; otherwise, they would have already come knocking.
This declaration was both a warning and a sign of their final tolerance.
If they continued their harassment, Bai Shi would truly go to war with them.
After that, Bai Shi rode Torrent, leaping down along the stone slabs protruding from the cliffside.
These slabs were spaced even higher and farther apart than in the game, a feat truly impossible for any normal creature.
Fortunately, Torrent was nimble enough, and with Bai Shi hand-crafting a low-end soul stream with his storm powers, it wasn't a problem.
In just a moment, Torrent reached the bottom of the valley, its path completely unimpeded.
Erlisa and the silver knights watched Bai Shi leave until his figure gradually vanished into the mists and dense forests of Liurnia.
Only when they could no longer see him did they return to the church to rest.
The silver knights quietly discussed Bai Shi's formidable strength, their faces filled with admiration.
Erlisa, on the other hand, recalled the scene of her first meeting with Bai Shi and their battle in the evergaol.
'How much time has passed? He's gotten stronger again.'
Erlisa had joined quite early and had watched Bai Shi's strength grow continuously along the way.
His growing power was a good thing.
Even if the speed of his improvement was bizarrely fast.
—
Within the Academy of Raya Lucaria.
The leaders of various classrooms had gathered once again.
Sorcerers in all sorts of glintstone crowns looked at each other. For a time, no one spoke, each lost in their own thoughts.
As they pondered, the glintstones on their crowns flickered.
Finally, the sorcerer wearing the Olivinus Glintstone Crown was the first to speak:
"Regarding the Storm King Bai Shi's earlier words..."
"What are everyone's thoughts?"
Silence still reigned.
The sorcerer who had spoken sighed and said again:
"Or rather, do you think he has the strength to back it up?"
The first to respond was a Karolos Sorcerer.
"His Stormveil is not the same as it was under Godrick. The Tarnished are indeed excellent soldiers."
"But if it's just those soldiers, the academy has nothing to fear."
"The academy's magical defenses are quite reliable. No matter how many soldiers surround the academy, they'll just be evaporated by our sorceries."
"However, we currently have no one who can match a powerful individual like him."
"Unless one of you volunteers to stop him, I don't think we should continue this."
"We've had no news from Sellia either. It's unclear if they've defected or been completely wiped out."
This was a fact that all the sorcerers here knew.
Although they had successfully imprisoned the Queen of the Full Moon and taken control of the academy, they lacked a top-tier figure like her. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had to wait until the queen lost her mind to rebel.
While the sorcerers were still quite outstanding, and some could even hold their own against the Carian Knights, the absence of a top-tier combatant was a gap that was difficult to fill.
They had previously found traces of Sellen and, after cross-referencing, confirmed that Bai Shi was the one who had freed her.
They had originally intended to pressure Stormveil, but this new king's strength far exceeded their estimates.
Now, the academy was in a difficult position.
What was worse, if Sellen truly had some connection to Bai Shi—be it master and apprentice, friends, or partners—as long as Bai Shi was willing to protect Sellen, they would never be able to remove this thorn in their side.
If their intentions were exposed, it wasn't out of the question that Bai Shi would come straight for their gates.
A Twin Sage Sorcerer offered some reassurance:
"It's alright. The gates of the Carian Academy are shut tight. Unless we open them ourselves, they won't find a way to attack."
But another sorcerer immediately retorted:
"But he said our seal is not without flaws..."
A Lazuli Sorcerer slammed the table, berating this coward:
"Nonsense! Nothing in this world is perfect. How could a warrior like him possibly understand the affairs of us sorcerers! Besides, isn't it normal to make threats before a war?"
"No, no, don't forget the academy has a key that was lost outside."
"Where is that key? Even we don't know. How could he possibly find it?"
...
The Karolos Sorcerer watched this noisy group, all holding their own opinions but unable to come to a decision, and felt a wave of helplessness.
In the end, they were a group of people who had come together for personal gain to launch a rebellion, and none of them were strong enough to command absolute authority.
"Enough! Let's just decide what to do next."
The sorcerers looked at one another.
Finally, the Olivinus Sorcerer proposed a suggestion:
"He has already entered Liurnia, but it doesn't seem like he's coming for us."
"Since he's on our turf, let's first monitor him and see what he's up to."
"Then, let those damn Cuckoos go on patrol. It'll be good to wear down their strength a bit."
Even at this stage, they were still thinking of ways to screw over the Cuckoos. These academy traitors and the Cuckoos were truly cut from the same cloth.
The sorcerers thought about it. This way, they wouldn't be sending anyone into Limgrave.
Bai Shi had entered Liurnia on his own, so he shouldn't have any issue with the forces they already had stationed here.
"Let it be so, then. Agreed."
"Agreed."
—
Bai Shi and Torrent proceeded along a submerged road in Liurnia.
This was a characteristic of Liurnia; even the roads were submerged in water, reaching up to a person's calves.
But Torrent was a steed that could gallop through the rot-filled lake of Aeonia; mere lake water was no obstacle at all.
If it were just to solve Stormveil's problem, Bai Shi could have already returned.
He had delivered his final ultimatum. From now on, it was simple: either the two sides would go to war, or the academy would back off.
Bai Shi's trip to Liurnia this time was not solely for the academy.
He was looking for certain things to further his relationship with Ranni.
Soon, Bai Shi followed the mountainside to a flat shore.
Although the area wasn't large, it was at least a place to set foot on solid ground.
There was a Site of Grace and a young nomadic merchant there.
Bai Shi first went to the Site of Grace, touched it, and lit it up before walking toward the merchant.
He needed a map, even a very simple one would do. Liurnia was a vast land, and the fog and dense forests made it difficult to tell which direction was correct.
Because they were by the lake, the ground on the shore was very damp.
The merchant wasn't sitting directly on the ground like his compatriots; instead, he had set up a small stool to sit on.
Seeing Bai Shi, the merchant was very surprised and even took the initiative to strike up a conversation.
"Oh? The direction you came from... are you from Stormveil?"
Bai Shi nodded and asked in return:
"What about it? I am indeed from Stormveil."
The merchant was a little excited.
"Oh, then may I ask you if there's a way to get to Stormveil?"
"To be honest, I've heard from a fellow countryman who came from there that there's a chance to make a big profit in Stormveil, so I've been wanting to go there to do business."
"But the main road to Stormveil is broken, and no one can get there from the Liurnia side now."
"He told me about a small path, but Liurnia is just too confusing, and there's also the fog. Now I don't know which way to go."
Bai Shi asked him with some curiosity:
"The compatriot you met earlier, how did he describe that path to you?"
The nomadic merchant thought for a moment.
"He said that on the eastern side of Stormveil, there's a small path. Aside from some wolves and other wild animals, it's not very dangerous."
"From there, you can reach the other side of the broken bridge, which will get you near the main gate of Stormveil."
"But I've been looking for a while, and I can't even find my side of the broken bridge, let alone the other end."
Nowadays, there were hardly any proper main roads between regions; they were either broken or dangerous.
But there were still many small paths, especially for the nomadic people.
Bai Shi thought about the path he mentioned. Although it was somewhat hidden, such a path did exist.
One could use that path to either come or go, but not far from the exit was Stormveil's most heavily defended main gate.
So Bai Shi told him the approximate location of the path. Whether he could find it or not would depend on his luck.
Then, Bai Shi casually asked about the compatriot he had mentioned:
"Speaking of which, the countryman you mentioned wouldn't happen to be named Kalé, would he?"
"Eh? You know each other? That's right, he also came out of Stormveil not long ago."
To his surprise, the merchant he spoke of was indeed Kalé.
"How is he doing now?"
Bai Shi followed up by asking about Kalé's situation, as it had been some time since he left to find the great caravan.
"The last time I met him, he was doing quite well."
"Among us nomads, his goods and luggage suggest he's doing better than most. He said he was going to look for the great caravan."
"I've heard stories of the great caravan since I was a child, but I always thought it was just a rumor. I can't believe he'd actually go searching for it. I hope he finds it."
The conversation ended there. On the principle of 'since I'm already here,' Bai Shi had the merchant show him his wares.
However, after looking around, he didn't find anything particularly good.
And to Bai Shi's disappointment, he didn't have a map.
In order to do business in Stormveil, he had brought easily-sellable goods that warriors would normally need.
For example, various greases and similar items.
None of these were useful to Bai Shi.
Bai Shi picked up a portable lantern and looked at it a couple of times.
This portable lantern was made very small and was convenient to use when hung at the waist, freeing up one's hands.
The downside was that its light was rather dim, and because it was hung at the waist, the light would sometimes be blocked by the body, failing to illuminate certain areas.
This merchant had brought quite a few portable lanterns, with dozens in his backpack. It seemed he intended to make this one of his main products.
Although he didn't buy anything, when he was about to leave, the merchant gave him a lantern to thank him for the directions.
Unlike its high price in the game, this item wasn't all that valuable.
At the same time, he also gave Bai Shi a tip about a map.
In a gazebo along this main road, he had previously met a young girl with yellow hair, wearing a long green robe.
That girl seemed to have a complete map of Liurnia and had even helped him with directions before.
She seemed very troubled at the moment, but he was just a merchant and couldn't help.
If Bai Shi wanted a map, he might be able to ask her.
After bidding the merchant farewell, Bai Shi continued along the main road.
The girl the merchant spoke of was probably Raya.
Raya was a recruiter sent out by Volcano Manor to Liurnia.
It wasn't surprising that she had a map of Liurnia.
After all, she was also the nominal daughter of Tanith, the current master of Volcano Manor.
Although she was only a daughter in name, Tanith treated Raya quite well.
Speaking of which, if one were to carefully trace the family ties, Raya could even be considered Ranni's niece.
Along the way, Bai Shi passed many ruins.
These ruins were occupied by strange phantoms with twisted limbs and grotesque appearances.
It was unclear whether they had taken over this place, or if the former residents had transformed into these phantoms.
Bai Shi wandered around the area near the stone monument where the map could be excavated.
This place was submerged in water; it didn't look like a place where a map could be dug up.
Bai Shi gave up the idea of finding a map here and continued along the main road, searching for a sign of Raya.
Before long, a small gazebo appeared in Bai Shi's line of sight.
In that small lakeside gazebo, Bai Shi saw a green figure from a distance.
Raya was sitting on the edge of the pavilion, her hands propped on her knees, cupping her cheeks. She looked a little pouty.
Hearing the splashing of Torrent's hooves, Raya turned her head to look.
Upon seeing someone approaching, Raya immediately stood up.
She patted the front and back of her long robe, tidying it up so it wouldn't look so wrinkled.
After doing all this, Raya waved at Bai Shi from a distance and called out softly, a bit timidly:
"You there, excuse me, could you come over for a moment?"
Bai Shi dismounted in front of Raya and studied her carefully.
Raya looked young; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was still a child.
Her face still had a bit of baby fat, and her delicate features were very cute.
However, Raya's back was hunched, and her neck was craned forward. This posture was somewhat uncomfortable to look at.
Although Bai Shi knew this was due to her Man-Serpent identity, she would look much better if she straightened up.
Seeing that Bai Shi was willing to come over, Raya first bowed.
Then she spoke with a hint of joy:
"Hello, thank you for being willing to come over."
"Although we've just met, might I be so bold as to ask for your help?"
"Of course, I will offer a proper reward."